In what has become an enduring saga riddled with tales of unchecked authority and deeply-rooted mismanagement, the name George Obell, currently serving within the Kenya Revenue Authority’s Micro and Small Taxpayers Department, has once again resurfaced in damning revelations that echo and amplify the long-standing frustrations of those who have, for years, operated under the weight of his administrative grip.
According to highly credible information shared with us by individuals deeply embedded within the institution, Mr. Obell is at the center of a long-brewing storm whose origins can be traced back to earlier complaints that painted a picture of an internal climate marked by oppressive supervision, unethical demands, and a culture so thoroughly contaminated that many staff members have allegedly resigned themselves to surviving within a system they no longer believe can be salvaged from within.
This latest report brings to light chilling details that appear to mirror, if not deepen, the gravity of earlier accusations which, to date, have neither been resolved nor meaningfully acted upon by those responsible for institutional oversight.
The department in question has long served as a breeding ground for resentment and whispered conversations carried out in hushed tones, where junior staff, once idealistic about their role in public service, have allegedly been reduced to tools in a grander scheme fuelled by an insatiable appetite for extortion.
Numerous sources, whose access to operational realities within the department cannot be questioned, describe an environment that functions less as a public tax body and more as a well-oiled collection network, one in which the very concept of voluntary compliance with national tax obligations has been warped into a tool for personal gain by a cartel-like structure led, orchestrated, and at the very least protected, by Mr. George Obell.
Reports we received outline a system where targets are not limited to revenue performance or service delivery metrics, but rather include informal, unrecorded objectives rooted in the extraction of bribes from unsuspecting taxpayers.
Several internal staff allege they have been coerced into meeting monthly or quarterly ‘unofficial quotas’ with clear consequences for those who fall short of expectations.
It is said that failure to meet such demands often attracts thinly veiled threats, job transfers, or subtle disciplinary actions designed to intimidate and silence those unwilling to comply with this corrupt parallel economy.
It is not just the internal staff who are said to be suffering under the weight of this deeply exploitative framework.
Ordinary citizens and small business owners attempting to comply with their statutory obligations reportedly encounter extortionate demands disguised as compliance negotiations.
In cases where one refuses to play along, intimidation tactics are deployed, ranging from deliberately punitive assessments to surprise audits aimed less at enforcing the law than at breaking the will of the non-cooperative taxpayer.
Mr. Obell, who has served in various roles across the KRA landscape, is no stranger to controversy, and his current position appears to have become a safe haven from which earlier misconduct has simply been repackaged under a different departmental title.
While previous reports had triggered a wave of internal discussions and temporary departmental reviews, there appears to have been no meaningful structural shift in how power is wielded or misused within the Micro and Small Taxpayers division.
Instead, there is now talk that the corruption has evolved, becoming more discreet, more distributed, and more deeply institutionalized.
Those familiar with the happenings speak of a departmental culture where loyalty is cultivated not through leadership or service, but through complicity.
Junior staff are allegedly handpicked not based on merit but on their willingness to adhere to unwritten codes of conduct that prioritize personal gain over public duty.
To question these unwritten rules is to invite retaliation and to resist them entirely is to risk isolation or termination.
What makes this exposé all the more disturbing is not merely the conduct of one officer, but rather the system that appears to have formed around him.
A network of silent collaborators, beneficiaries, and enablers who, through either action or inaction, have allowed such behaviors to flourish unchecked.
And now, with renewed complaints streaming in from those still working within the system, there is growing urgency to acknowledge the devastating consequences such internal corruption inflicts not only upon government integrity, but upon the already burdened Kenyan taxpayer who continues to bear the hidden costs of such greed.
“Hi Nyakundi. I am reaching out because honestly things have gone from bad to worse here. I am speaking as someone who works inside the Micro and Small Taxpayers Department, and I can tell you for a fact that the situation under George Obell is completely out of hand. This man has turned the whole place into his personal empire. He runs things like he owns the department and anyone who tries to question anything is either transferred or frustrated until they give up. The main issue is this thing of bribes. It is not even hidden anymore. We are literally being pushed to meet certain targets that have nothing to do with actual tax collection. You are just expected to go out there and “get something” from taxpayers. Some of us are even being told how much we should be bringing in every month under the table. Taxpayers out there are really suffering. These small businesses some of them are just trying to survive but when they come to us they are ambushed with threats unless they cooperate. Let the public know what is happening.”
It remains to be seen whether any real intervention will be initiated from the upper echelons of authority, or whether, once again, this will be another episode filed away quietly, as those involved recalibrate and resume operations with greater caution.
What is beyond dispute, though, is the sense of betrayal expressed by those within the institution who still believe in the foundational ideals of public service, and who are now watching them be dismantled one silent bribe at a time.
We will continue to methodically pursue every thread of testimony, every whisper from behind office walls, and every shred of documentation that sheds light on the entrenched malpractice perpetuated under George Obell’s leadership, not merely as an act of journalistic duty but as a deliberate stand against the quiet normalization of impunity that threatens to erode what little remains of ethical governance within critical state institutions, particularly those entrusted with the delicate mandate of national revenue collection.
Because to walk away from this story, or to treat it as just another administrative irregularity, would be to participate in the very silence that has, for far too long, allowed such corrupt architectures to thrive in the shadows.
